The sun was scorching hot at noon in Tianbao Village, and I had just come out of the fields shirtless. Villagers were gathered under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village. A girl in a white dress was standing on the dirt road leading several dolls carved in pink and jade. She looked at me and looked at me, then turned to the children and said, "Daddy." The child's voice was loud and clear, and in the next second someone was there to strike: "It's so dark, like a burnt potato." I clutched the hoe and froze on the spot - I haven't been out of the mountains for two years, how could I plant any seeds?
